Tank covering good or bad?

[cramsmith]

Hi Guys and Gals.
So I was at my LFS and they suggested that since I have a wooden canopy that I mount my lights on the lid (which I will do once my kit comes in) and to remove the glass covering the tank.

She told my that the glass will act as a filter and filter out some of the actinic light. She also said that with the glass cover you trap a lot of gas and heat. It was also stated that with the removal of the glass you in a sense get "evaporative" cooling for the tank, and that topping off with RO water becomes more frequent.

Any comments on this?

Thanks :)

[SaltyDawg]

Sounds like your LFS know's what it's talking about. If you are using a canopy take the glass off the top of the tank for all the reasons you stated. You need to have good air flow across the tank to help get any bad gas out.
Wayne

[crazy_reefing]

I agree with the LFS. I ended up taking off my glass tops and seen a great approvement with the lighting but on the other hand I am adding more top offs now. I don't mind the extra toping off since my lighting is very important.

[Puffy]

yes and if you put some cheap o computer fans in the canopy then you can get the heat out

[cramsmith]

Thanks you guys for your replys. I am really glad to here I have a reliable source at my LFS, not to mention the wonderful advice I have received here.

[Condiman]

Just make sure you keep your reflector and bulbs clean.

[kiddjar]

I have standard 48" strip lighting sitting on glass tops, but no canopy. Should I take the glass tops off? I've never considered it because I didn't want my lights that close to the water. My tank temp stays around 80 deg F.

[mjstech]

kiddjar, that's going to depend if the bulbs/wires with get splashed, you may be able to lower the water level too, or just get a canopy.

[jman785]

Just make sure you keep your reflector and bulbs clean.

And make sure you do this, when your bulbs and reflectors are cool! If not, they'll break normally.

[joedokes28]

I built a custom hood that houses both a 55w 10000k and a 55w deep blue actinic. These will sit 5" of the water in a 24" deep tank. I put 1/8" thick clear plexi-glass on the bottom of the hood to keep the bulbs and reflectors clean.
For clarification, the only thing between my light bulbs and the water is a 1/8" plexi. The rest of the tank is covered by a canopy and vented with a 100cfm fan.
Should I ditch the plexi-glass cover?

[frankandtina]

i agree with puffy....i did the computer fan thing myself...it wks a treat wen you got halides pumping out the heat....